U.S. happily admits it imprisons more of its own population than any other country in the world

When delving into the Wikileaks Cablegate file sometimes the mind boggles – both at cable content and the little asides.

So we find that one diplomat opines that on average men are likely to live longer in Russia if they are in prison and, that America locks up more people as a percentage of its own population than any other nation on earth and half of those re-offend.

Full cable transcript can be found here

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000531O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV TBIO RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN PRISONS
REF: A. 07 MOSCOW 4543 ¶B. MOSCOW 325 ¶C. MOSCOW 378
Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns for reason 1.4(d).
¶1. (C) Summary: The Russian prison system combines the country's emblematic features - vast distances, harsh climate, and an uncaring bureaucracy - and fuses them into a massive instrument of punishment. Russia imprisons a greater portion of its population than almost any other country in the world (second only to the U.S.). In contrast to other Western countries, the system is foremost focused on punishment, not rehabilitation, and while statisics are difficult to compare, produces a lower rate of recidivism. Recent prison riots, new prisoner shock tactics, and smuggled videos of prison mistreatment have highlighted the cruelties and corruption in the system. Health conditions in Russian prisons are poor and infection rates for contagious diseases are much higher than in the general population, but surprisingly the mortality rate for men in these prisons is only one-third the rate on the outside - a statistic that says much more about the dangers of alcoholism and road safety than it does about healthy living behind bars. Reports of abuses in the prison system have been answered with calls for reform, most recently in the Human Rights Ombudsman's annual report and by the President's Human Rights Council. While NGO activists such as the embattled Lev Ponomarev praise the work of Lukin, the insurmountable challenges posed by the physical and cultural nature of the prison system mean that efforts to improve conditions or to alter the character of the system from punishment to rehabilitation are likely to produce only superficial improvements. End summary......
¶6. (U) According to FSIN statistics, as of July, there were approximately 889,600 people in the custody of the criminal justice system, including 63,000 women and 12,100 juveniles. This rate of 630 prisoners per 100,000 citizens is second in the world only to the United States (702 per 100,000)......
¶11. (U) According to Sergeyeva, the recidivism rate in Russiais only 36 percent (compared to more than 50 percent in the United States or the United Kingdom).

Another brickbat for Telstra Customer Service

Telstra continues to elicit negative perceptions……………….

An ongoing Telstra torment

I CAN'T begin to explain the torment I've experienced this past 12 months at the hands of Telstra.

I must say though my feeling of futility and stupidity was somewhat allayed when reading our glorious Bonnie's letter to you on December 20.

Bonnie is a business woman I admire and it brought me great relief to know that someone of her capability and knowledge of the world of communications could also struggle in her dealings with this once great telco.

I could detail in excess of 20 examples of monumental Telstra stuff ups involving my personal and company phones and internet connections over this year, however, the one that brought the most chuckles and pain was their recent disconnection of my business phones.

Without detailing the events leading up to this - which were quite bizarre and confusing to say the least -a day arrived, a Thursday, about four weeks ago when all my telephones - the business line, the EFTPOS line and all three company mobiles were dead.

When I tried to dial it told me I could only dial the billing number on my bill -which I did but it still didn't let me ring out.

So in frustration and fear I tried the Telstra business number - miraculously I got through. I explained I had called the billing number on my account as instructed -but had not been able to get through.

The only remark then was they were aware the wrong number is printed on those bills -no apology, no explanation.

The woman I spoke to told me that I hadn't paid my account which I explained I had in dribs and drabs over BPAY -and that Telstra had only just reconciled all the errors of the past 12 months.

The woman explained that I needed to pay another $473 if I wanted the phones reconnected.

I told her I simply didn't have that money on the day and asked her how she expected me to pay this amount given my customers couldn't call to order nor could they pay with EFTPOS and nor could they buy any pre-paid telephone or internet. She didn't care.

She said to call back when I paid and they would arrange to have my phones reconnected.

The irony was as she went to end the conversation she asked me which number was the best one to contact me on?

I said: "Are you serious? You've disconnected every single line I have."

I managed to get an email through to my son, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, he paid the account via BPAY and emailed me the payment details.

I actually have my own designated Telstra person - with an email address and direct number - as a result of the Telstra trauma

I've experienced this year. I couldn't call that person because the phones were disconnected - and as it turned out he was on an RDO anyway.

I emailed the payment information immediately to this chap, who returned to work on the Friday and he gave instructions that my phones be reconnected immediately.

Well immediately in Telstra terms was the following Tuesday morning.

My store is open 6am-6Pm every day of the week and my business number is used to book appointments for the acupuncturist and remedial masseuse who work from the clinic I've established at the rear of my store.

So almost six days with no phones, no EFTPOS and no sales of pre-paid internet or phone.

Over that weekend I needed to speak to my father.

I had a brainwave -I'll use the telephone box outside my store - hmmm ...it was out of order.

But the most painful part of this whole experience was that on the Sunday, December 5, my baby boy turned 26. He promised to call me from Tarin Kowt where he is currently serving as an Australian soldier.

For the first time in those 26 years I didn't get to speak to my baby boy on his birthday.

Thank you again Telstra -a most memorable year.

Oh, and some advice, stop spending buckets of money on sending out copious volumes of expensive marketing materials and direct that budget towards improving your customer service.

URSULA TUNKS

Managing Director, Premium ldeas and Marketing

[The Daily Examiner,letter to the editor,28 December 2010]

Japanese Antarctic Whale Kill 2010-11: If there are official photographs of the slaughter why aren't we seeing them?

Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown in The Sydney Morning Herald on 21 December 2010:

Greens leader Bob Brown says he has met with Japan's ambassador and told him that whaling is doing his country "great damage".

He says he told Shigekazu Sato that whatever victory Japan thinks it has in killing whales is "a pyrrhic victory".

"I did describe this bloody business of whaling in very direct terms to the ambassador.

"I was able to ask him if he, as a Christmas gesture, might not give me the co-ordinates of the whaling fleet and update them every other day. He declined to be so generous."

Senator Brown also called on the federal government to release the most recent whaling photographs, which he said are being kept hidden "in the minister for the environment's drawer".

"That sort of cowardly approach to Tokyo is not representing what the Australian people think about the cowardly business of whaling," Senator Brown told reporters.

"If they want to go down there and slaughter whales in our oceans or the oceans south of New Zealand, let the rest of the world see what they're doing."

The intransigence and blatant hypocrisy of the Government of Japan and its agencies having oversight and operational responsibility for these annual whale hunts begs the question of why the Australian Government continues to take such a low-key approach:

Japan's Fisheries Agency has admitted its officials accepted gifts of whale meat from the body that runs the country's so-called scientific whaling program.

Six months ago the ABC broadcast allegations by two whaling crew members that officials and crew were illegally taking thousands of dollars worth of whale cuts.

At the time the Fisheries Agency denied the allegations, but it has now reprimanded five of its officials for taking more than $3,000 worth of whale meat.

The Federal Opposition, which when in government was not inclined to pursue legal action against the Japanese Government, now calls for:

… an interim injunction be taken out against Japan to prevent it whaling in the Southern Ocean this summer.......

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the federal government should be doing more to stop the annual whale hunt.

And an interim injunction should be sought through the international court, or the tribunal on the law of the sea.

Australia's efforts through the International Court of Justice has been "torturously slow", Mr Hunt said, noting the court's decision isn't expected until at least 2013.

While the Sea Shepard’s methods of directly confronting the whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean raises concern in many quarters, sometimes it is hard to stand back from the fact that this group is the only one physically standing between whales and painful, unnecessary, early deaths from unnatural causes.

Japan's Insitute of Cetacean Research has sent out a media release and two short videos which allege to show an 'attack' on its whaling fleet on New Year's Day 2011:

2011.01.01 Antiwhaling activists aboard a zodiac boat throwing glass bottle projectiles against the Yushin Maru No. 3 (2.91MB)

2011.01.01 Antiwhaling activists aboard a zodiac boat prepare to deploy a rope aimed at the Yushin Maru No. 3 propeller and rudder (794KB)

Although last year Japan reiterated its intention to again hold off plans to slaughter humpback whales like Migaloo the White Fella, there is no guarantee that this decision will not be arbitrarily reversed.

McDonald's rubbishing Yamba in 2011 - Part One

While Petering Time is away chasing that illusive fish catch of a lifetime it has fallen to me to keep the McDonald's Yamba fast food outlet 'rubbish pile' evidence.

So here is the first installment for 2011 of Maccas branded litter found in Yamba public spaces within a few metres of and/or or less than a kilometre from the McDonald's Australia fast food outlet opened in December 2010.